Coffee aficionados in the country have yet another reason to cheer. Starbucks, the global coffeehouse chain, has just opened their very first Reserve coffee bar in the entire Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) region, in downtown Kuwait. It is 18 years since Starbucks opened their first outlet in Kuwait, and again the first in the MENA region. Since then the brand has grown in popularity, drawing a steady stream of citizens and residents eager to experience and enjoy coffee made from some of the world’s finest whole bean coffees.

Now, Starbucks has taken the fine-coffee enjoying experience to a whole new level with the opening of the Reserve coffee bar. Located in the heart of Kuwait’s bustling business district in Sharq, the new Starbucks Reserve coffee bar is on the ground floor of the Crystal Tower along Ahmad Al-Jabbar Street.

What makes Starbucks Reserve coffee bar special is that it features the company's rare, small-lot Reserve coffees that are offered in limited quantities. This unique coffee is sourced from selected coffee growing regions in Latin America, Africa and the Asia Pacific islands, is roasted exclusively at the brand's eponymous Seattle Roastery in the United States. It is then shipped directly to only around 20 percent of the more than 25,000 Starbucks outlets worldwide. Kuwait happily is one of those branches.

The Reserve coffee bar is quite different from your average drive through coffee outlet, or even the standard Starbucks store where you go for a quick perk up shot, on the way to or from work. This is place where you can relax, wind down all your stress and take time out to enjoy a truly immersive coffee experience.

Tellingly, the new Reserve bar venue provides a befitting relaxing ambiance with tastefully designed airy interiors and a décor that beautifully contrasts the warm wood paneling and muted gray walls, with the stark industrial ceiling with its exposed ductwork and suspended globe lights. However, the pièce de résistance of the place is the three-sided coffee bar with its black marble top and yellow-birch colored sides, which stretches along one side of the store and encloses the area where the certified Coffee Master baristas take center stage.

Seated at the coffee bar, one can observe these coffee specialists as they go about preparing delightful coffee concoctions. These Coffee Masters have earned their title as an acknowledgement of the special training they have undergone at Starbucks, the knowledge they have about coffee and the skill they have gained in consistently brewing excellent coffee.

The Coffee Masters, of whom there are less than 5,000 in the entire Starbucks chain, readily engage with customers at the bar, detailing the various nuances of coffee flavors, the terroir of beans and the different brewing methods used. What marks the professionalism of these coffee artists is that while they are explaining about the virtues of the coffee they are also simultaneously crafting the exquisite coffee that you are about to savor.

Commenting on the store opening, Graeme Gardiner, Senior Operations Manager - Starbucks Kuwait said: “We are extremely proud to introduce this special store that showcases our passion for coffee in this region. With an immersive and sensory coffee bar, the new store defines a new opportunity bringing customers closer to their coffee, and to Starbucks, more than ever before.”

Three special Reserve coffees are currently on offer at the store — Nicaragua El Suyatal, Brazil Bourbon Rio Verde and Colombia Andino. The store also offers Starbucks core range of food and beverages that are known and loved by customers in Kuwait.